The Great Cape Leap [Worm Soviet PRT Planquest]

The person sitting in front of you is a complete mystery - even to you. The only parahuman of the Soviet Union, the only parahuman who is, even on paper, outside of your sphere of responsibility. Many parahumans could, if they wanted, seize power in the country. Few could do it in such a way that people would ask to seize that power. Almost omnipotent Zarnitsa. It's good that he's on your side.

For the most powerful parahumans in the world, you'd usually expect a flashy suit. The whole world is used to this, looking at Tetrarchia, Scion, and other powerful parahumans. Your interlocutor was wearing a slightly rumpled jacket, which one would expect from any Soviet bureaucrat. He wore glasses on his face, and on his wrist was a strange device that looked like a mechanical watch, but was not one. The only thing that clearly revealed his parahuman nature was an opaque black ballistic mask, somewhat reminiscent of an Eidolon's mask or special forces equipment. Or posthumous ancient Roman face casts.

"We still have problems getting parahumans to even the minimum level where they can be shown in public." You complain while the Thinker studies several reports regarding the Soviet Protectorate. "Even taking into account control over information, our situation is not so good that we can afford a diplomatic or ideological scandal. The Party must strengthen control over parahumans."

"Comrade Frunze." You were a little irritated by the patronizing note in Zarnitsa's voice. He was not young and he had the energy of a tired university teacher who scolds a student for a poorly studied exam. "Although we really do not want any conflicts, and they are especially undesirable for you, as the head of a young and ambitious Ministry, it seems to me that direct actions will only cause more problems. What plans do you have to resolve this issue?

"I admit, I thought about organizing ideological training courses. But even when I was young, they were skipped. Discipline could be strengthened, but we all remember Andropov." You get a slight nod from the black mask. He is really older than you, since you saw the fight for labor discipline in 1982 only as an intensification of the fight against absenteeism at Moscow State University. "I have experience in how to attract people through a active membership in an organization, but this does not motivate them to memorize theses. And increased discipline will lead to a reduction in the number of parahumans, both due to obvious desertion and silent sabotage."

The parahuman in front of you fell silent for a few seconds, nervously tapping his finger on the table, and then began to speak.

"You're not entirely correct. Our population has grown up on decades of consistent and multi-level propaganda of communist ideals. No matter what the West says about oppression and totalitarianism, most citizens share these values - at least on a superficial level. Our people have faith in the future, faith in technology and a general confidence in communism, but few of them really understand what kind of communism they are building. I have been working in recent years to change the perception of ideology and separate communism from officials in high offices. You need to adopt similar tactics. You can't stop your subordinates stop ignoring propaganda, it's a skill that everyone develops in such a system. But you can make them believe that their opinions and their decisions are the antithesis of the general ideology. All you have to do is reap the synthesis."

You nodded at him, again wondering what kind of person was sitting in front of you. Completely useless in combat, this parahuman is superior in influence to any member of the Tetrarchy. He appeared in the USSR unexpectedly in the late 80s, finding himself in the role of an adviser to the Politburo. No information about its origin. No career. No traces. His origin was a mystery to everyone, except probably the President and other senior officials of the country. The fact that even you were not one of them said a lot about the level of secrecy.

*****

Political authority represents the extent to which your opinion is considered binding within the Soviet Union. This is not only your legal powers, but also your informal influence on various branches of government and the opportunity to defend your interests. To maintain political authority, you must act effectively and skillfully, or at least create a convincing illusion of such activity. Unpopular actions, failures and simply the passage of time reduce your political authority.

Political authority: 112 (-7 points/turn)

USA and USSR both have a certain degree of influence on your funding, which determines how many resources you receive each turn. There are two ways to change your funding. First, increasing your level of support from one of the superpowers improves your funding. But the economic situation within the state is no less important. Behemoth attacking any of the powers can undermine their ability to finance your activities, as well as economic crises or other similar circumstances.

USSR support: 7/10 (+260 resources/turn)
USA support: 4/10 (+160 resources/turn)
Resources: 1000 (-20 resources/turn)

One of your most important resources is numerous parahumans under your command, willing to follow your orders. Each turn you recruit a certain number of parahumans, and you can significantly increase this number. Every turn you risk losing some of them – death in battles against Behemoth, simple accidents that traumatize parahumans and force them to leave the service, or even desertion.

Parahumans:
- Profit: +18 per Q3 due to recruitment
- Outflow: 0 for ideological reasons, 0 for cape reasons.
- Total: 243 parahumans
- Projected recruitment: 5-25 parahumans/turn

The USSR has many problems, but those problems also create many opportunities. The Soviet deficit implies the inability of people to utilize the money supply accumulated over the years. However, scarcity also creates more parahumans, and more importantly, gives you more leverage in recruiting. You have the resources to give a decent standard of living to parahumans that they cannot get elsewhere.

Deficit: 2/8 (+20% to the recruitment of new capes)

In addition, the socialist state is mired in corruption. This is not corporate lobbyism for capitalist corporations, but it is an all-encompassing petty everyday corruption that requires people to contribute small funds to solve their local problems. However, for you, a Ministry with extraordinary people and services, as well as easy access to employees in the US, this is a field of opportunity. The more corruption there is, the harder it is to get luxury goods... and the easier it is for you to promote your projects to people's priorities.

Corruption: 4/8 (+8 to each die)

Dice available to you:

Free dice: 2
Administrative dice: 2
Siloviki dice: 2
Law enforcement dice: 2
Protectorate dice: 5 (can be used in any other area, but at a -10 penalty)
Science dice: 2
Bureaucratic dice: 2

*****

Administrative Projects:

[] Reconstruction of the Red Gate HQ. Slowly but surely, the smallest of the Seven Sisters is being transformed to suit our interests. The worst consequences of the incident have already been eliminated, but we need to finally convert the building into a modern complex that will meet the needs of the youngest ministry in the USSR. [2nd 47/125 (new options, +6 political authority)] [50 resources/dice]

[] Organization of the HR department. Despite the warming of relations between countries, international travel is still not accessible to citizens of the Soviet Union. Not for Ministry employees. However, a great number of requirements for employees and an ideological commitment not to disgrace the USSR outside the country makes finding new cadres difficult. We have the core of our future personnel, but we still need to transfer them somewhere from the underground complex in Moscow. [75/100] (new options) [20 resources/dice]

[] Republican expansion. The ministry is represented in the capital of the USSR and as accessible in the RSFSR. However, there are many more republics and republican capitals in the Union. The simplest offices with capes for working with local authorities are needed in each of the fifteen republics and displaying the flag. [0/125] [-50 parahumans available at the end] (+1 USSR support)

[] Regional network of offices. The Soviet Union was built on bureaucracy. During Perestroika, the bureaucracy became a little more organized, but overall the system is still very much tied to individual representatives on the ground who "get" things, often through local corruption or simple constant pressure. If we need information, then we need agents of influence in the cities of the Soviet Union. [0/100 per region] [-25 resources and -1 political authority per dice] (available for Center, Siberia, Central Asia, Urals, Caucasus or West) (assessment of threats in the region, passive threat suppression roll, new options)

[] Establishment of the Protectorate HQs. We promised not to directly militarize the Protectorate, not to create military units, and to create a more independent way to control parahumans. This was the demand of the Americans but many are not eager to do this. One way or another, this will be a new majestic building in Moscow, capable of both working with a variety of abilities and being a citadel that could withstand both superpowers and conventional weapons. [1st stage – 0/50] [2nd – 0/100 (new options)] [3rd – 0/200 (+1 US relations)] [4th – 0/500 (+45 capes one-time, +15 capes per turn)] [-60 resources/dice]

Siloviki Projects:

[] Spying network in the KGB. The Committee has always been a rather mysterious organization, but you are sure that there are several parahuman capes in the Alpha Squad. We need to agree on a policy with them regarding the recruitment of new capes, and also make sure that they are not creating a secret army of superhumans for a coup. The latest news about our activity is causing increased wariness in the State Security Committee towards us. [0/150] [-25 Political authority at the end, supervision of parahumans in the KGB]

[] Spying network in the army. We know very well that the Ministry of Defense has several capes whose abilities are used by the army for reconnaissance and covert operations. They don't really hide it and we don't put informal pressure on them. For now. However, it is important for us that they do not build up groups of secret parahumans, and for this we need eyes and ears in the Ministry. [0/95][-10 Political authority at the end, supervision of parahumans in the army]

[] Spying network in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The MIA is not very different from the army in terms of the use of capes, but the nature of recruitment is very different. We don't mind ignoring the volunteers who help the police with law enforcement, but we need agents to prevent the secret recruitment of criminal capes. No one should recruit criminals except us. [0/80] [-10 Political authority at the end, supervision of parahumans in the Ministry of Internal Affairs].

[] Border Security. We need more work and training for MPA and Protectorate forces to work in border control and in refugee camps. The number of armed conflicts around the country is growing, and if under the old leadership we turned a blind eye to arbitrariness and lawlessness, now helping people is becoming a little higher than the operational security of the country. We need to put in extra effort to make sure capes don't embarrass us, as well as present our actions in the correct light. [0/50] [-40 resources/dice] (new options)

[] Help for Afghan comrades. The Soviet Union left Afghanistan, but the war did not end. Goods and equipment worth tens of billions of Soviet rubles have been sent to the legitimate government in Kabul and yet more would be sent further, but now, besides the civil war, the country is also facing parahuman threats. We need to transfer specialists and equipment to the region. [22/75] [-45 resources/dice] [+10 Political Authority per completion] [Repeatable] (increasing the stability of Afghanistan and strengthening the government in Kabul)

[] Help Angola. Although in recent years the Soviet Union has significantly reduced its presence in hot spots around the world, there are still several areas of our intelligence activity. Angola is one of those places. There is a civil war in the country, where both forces spontaneously use parahumans. Added to this is the ongoing conflict against South Africa since apartheid supporters retook power in the country. The US may not approve of our intervention in the civil war, but why would we let them know? [0/100] [-50 resources/dice] [+20 Political Authority per completion] [Repeatable]

Law enforcement Projects:

[] Areas of responsibility in cities. The legal side of the issue does not keep up with the practical state of affairs. Parahumans can violate certain laws by the very fact of their existence, and therefore often become victims of conflicts between different interpretations of laws and rules. We can resolve these issues, or at least the most severe examples of them, by establishing a new standard of decision through the recommendations of the Supreme Court. But this will require a huge amount of legal work. [0/150] [-70 resources/dice] (+3 Political Authority per turn).

[] Expansion of the Committee Information. We have permission to form a network of spies who could provide us with information about potential parahuman activity. Unfortunately, we don't yet have a network of spies. However, we have several potential areas of activity where parahumans are most likely to appear, as well as certain areas where parahuman activity could be especially dangerous. This will give us more information about potential Soviet parahumans. [0/60 per direction] [-20 resources per dice, -10 resources per turn for each direction] (National Groups, Youth Crime, Organized Gangs, Foreign Influence, Economic Manipulation, Secret Masters) (Bad rolls can increase costs per turn) (Opens the rumor mill per direction and opens up new options)

[] Rapid Reaction Troops. (Center, Siberia, Central Asia, Ural, Caucasus, West). We have a number of specially trained personnel soldiers, but parahuman conflicts are quickly spiraling out of control. We should create rapid response teams that will be able to reach the site of the conflict within a few hours and begin to suppress unrest. [0/50 per region] [-30 resources and -1 political authority per dice] (Center, Siberia, Central Asia, Urals, Caucasus, West) (specialized units, two passive threat suppression rolls, new options)

[] Socialist comradely aid with the parahuman sphere. Despite the fact that the USSR agreed to sign a treaty with the United States, this did not completely convince the allied countries. For further integration, we need to at least agree on the creation of similar MPA organizations and establish communication between countries on issues of parahuman threats. [0/50] [+10 - +25 political authority upon completion] (opens new options)

Protectorate Projects:

[] Retraining of politically unreliable capes. Too many of our parahumans are either politically unreliable or too poorly educated about the nature of communism. Any international visit and meeting with journalists will lead to a scandal when our parahumans will not be able to answer tricky questions from the press of the capitalist world. We need to organize classes with parahumans to familiarize them with the official political line of the party. [0/105] (+1 political authority point per turn)

[] Department of Agitation and Propaganda. After the initial expansion, we are finally able to dictate our unwavering determination to combat "incorrect" views on parahumans. However, without a powerful foundation behind this structure, it will be impossible to conduct local propaganda and carry out damage control for unpleasant news. Comrades, we are not in 1962, not all issues can be resolved by total censorship. [2nd – 52/100 +1 authority points/turn] [3rd stage – 0/200 (new options) +1 authority points/turn] [4th – 0/300 +1 authority points/turn] [-30 resources/dice]

[] Preparation of parahuman training camps. Although most parahumans are unable to improve their powers, they still have the ability to improve their skills in using them. Too many of our parahumans have powers that are too dangerous to use in confined spaces, so we need a whole training ground where they can practice their powers. [110/125] (+2 Bonus to Protectorate dice) [-10 resources/dice]

[] Organization of costume production. One of the demands from the American side was at least minimal integration of Cape culture from the United States into the Soviet Union. We decided to approach this problem through the relatively informal image of a workers' militia. Now we can start producing the necessary equipment. Red leather jackets and armbands, badges with Protectorate symbols. And of course the possibility of maintaining the secrecy of a parahuman, but leaving for citizens of the USSR the opportunity to file a complaint against a specific parahuman using an impersonal number. [1st stage – 0/75 -1 authority points/turn] [2nd – 0/100 +1 US support] [-20 resources/dice]

[] Import personal protection. Throwing civilians in street clothes against potential criminals with firearms is an extremely stupid decision. We need to ensure their protection. Fortunately for us, the US has been solving this problem for its parahumans for long enough that we could negotiate with them to import concealed carry safety equipment for our parahumans. However, this will not please our more radical patriots and may make us look somewhat weak. [0/50][-25 resources per turn] [-1 authority points/turn](opens new options)

[] Behemoth Squad. Consent to the USSR's entry into the Protectorate was ensured precisely by the participation of Soviet parahumans in the defense of New York. However, in this operation we relied on a detachment raised in emergency circumstances. It is necessary to introduce a record of parahumans who agree to participate in battles with Behemoth. Of course, with appropriate rewards and additional wages. [0/100] (-5 resources per turn, the ability to participate in battles with Behemoth)

Scientific Projects:

[] System for categorization of Special Cases. The world of parahumans knows mostly ordinary parahumans, but besides them, there are many much rarer anomalies. Some of them are obvious - Scion or Behemoth. Others are less obvious and are little known to anyone except a few scientific specialists, for example, cluster triggers. We need to create a system of special cases common to the United States to describe various parahuman situations. [0/50] [-10 resources/dice] (introduction to special cases)

[] Creation of protective equipment. Throwing civilians in street clothes against potential criminals with firearms is an extremely stupid decision. We need to ensure their protection. The Soviet Union does not typically build stealth armor, preferring an open show of force to instill security. However, we could really try to improve our protective kits and the police, along with the army, would welcome the new possible equipment. [0/200][-35 resources/dice] [+1 USSR opinion](opens new options)

[] Organization of international exchange of experience. The Soviet Union is far from the only power in the world that is interested in parahumans, besides the United States. Germany, Britain, France, China, Japan - all of them undoubtedly have their own agencies interested in this issue. We need to create formal structures for future contacts. [0/50] [-5 Political Authority at the end] [-5 resources/dice]

[] All-Union Congress of Paratechnologists and Parabiologists. The study of parahumans in the Soviet Union is a young science that has just begun its development and is often associated with the issue of secrecy. We could allow the experts we know in this matter to network among themselves by organizing a large scientific conference. What could be better than a conference for several thousand people? [0/100] [+15 Political Authority at the end] [-35 resources/dice]

[] Centralization of Tinker applications. Tinkertech is a big black box not only for us, but also for Americans. No one understands the principles by which these devices work, but everyone is interested in them. We need to understand the main problems of most tinkers, and also try to create some general principles that would make their work easier. [0/100] [-40 resources/dice]

[] Studying methods of keeping parahumans in custody. We were able to prepare most of the countermeasures for keeping the parahuman in custody. However, privacy and security requirements require us to locate the complex in hard-to-reach places. We have several potential sites for exploration in the northern regions of the country, where even an escaped parahuman would have difficulty breaking free. [139/150] [+10 Political Authority at the end] [-20 resources/dice]

Bureaucratic projects:

[] War against pseudoscience. The Soviet Union in the last decade has been faced with the problem of a huge number of charlatans posing as parahumans, and especially Tinkers. These individuals, taking advantage of the ignorance of ordinary Soviet citizens about the abilities of parahumans, sell them obviously non-working products at a huge price. Moreover, many citizens are afraid to even contact the Ministry of Internal Affairs about fraud out of shame about it, or out of a sincere belief that the device actually works. We need to conduct ongoing public education about the true limits of parahuman abilities to solve this problem. [0/250] [+3 Authority/dice]

[] "Secret avengers" law. Too many parahumans in the United States refuse to cooperate with the authorities and become independent crime fighters, opening the hunting season for ordinary and parahuman criminals. Unfortunately, some of the Soviet citizens do the same. However, this is a clear crime, according to the laws of the USSR. Making such citizens criminals and our enemies without a chance for cooperation is not the wisest decision. So we need to organize legal mechanisms for amnesty for such cases. [0/150] [-3 Authority/dice] [+15 Political Authority at the end]

[] Parahuman Migrants and Refugees Act. The situation in the world is gradually becoming more and more difficult, even if the situation of the Soviet Union is becoming easier. Andean region, tropical Africa, and Indonesia are all regions falling into chaos, and parahumans may be among the potential refugees. Perhaps the opportunity to acquire a parahuman migrant is a welcome benefit for the USSR? Why don't we regulate the possibility of issuing refugee status and residence permits in an expedited manner for parahumans. [0/100] [-10 resources/dice]

[] UN agreement on parahuman crises. At the moment, cooperation between countries in the event of crises, such as the Behemoth attack, remains sporadic and relies on the initiative of individual groups. We need to ensure international legislation on freedom of cross-border movement for parahumans in such situations. This will make our work much easier. [0/100] [-5 Authority/dice] [+10 Political Authority at the end]

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